New Relic vs Datadog

New Relic and Datadog are both full-stack observability platforms used by engineering and operations teams to monitor applications, infrastructure, and logs. The core difference is pricing model and platform philosophy: New Relic uses unified usage-based pricing (data ingest plus users), while Datadog uses per-host, per-feature pricing where almost every capability is a separate SKU billed independently.

What is the pricing model for New Relic vs Datadog?

New Relic pricing is based on two dimensions: data ingest (GB per month) and user type. The first 100 GB/month is free on all editions. Beyond that, data costs $0.40/GB (original) or $0.60/GB (Data Plus). Full platform users start at $10/user on Standard, $349/user on Pro (annual). Basic users are free on all editions. Unlimited hosts, agents, containers, and cloud functions are included at no additional cost.

Datadog pricing is per-host, per-feature. Infrastructure monitoring starts at approximately $15/host/month. APM is billed separately per host. Log management is billed per GB ingested and per GB indexed, with additional per-retention-day charges. Real User Monitoring, Synthetic Monitoring, Security, Database Monitoring, and Incident Management are each separate products with their own billing metrics. Teams monitoring 50 or 100 hosts across multiple Datadog products often find costs compounding across multiple line items simultaneously.

What does each platform include for free?

New Relic free tier includes: 100 GB data ingest per month, one full platform user with access to all 50+ capabilities (APM, infrastructure monitoring, logs, distributed tracing, browser, mobile, synthetic monitoring, AIOps, and more), unlimited basic users, and default 8-day data retention. No credit card required.

Datadog free tier includes: up to 5 hosts with 1-day metric retention, core collection and visualization, and 400+ integrations. APM, log management, and most other features require a paid plan.

What G2 ratings does each platform have?

According to verified G2 reviews:

What are the key capability differences?

Both platforms cover APM, distributed tracing, infrastructure monitoring, log management, synthetic monitoring, real user monitoring, and alerting. Key differences:

• Pricing transparency: New Relic publishes all pricing publicly. Datadog APM, log indexing, and many add-on products require contacting sales for exact rates.
• Host charges: New Relic includes unlimited hosts at no additional cost. Datadog charges per host for infrastructure and a separate per-host fee for APM.
• User access: New Relic's basic user tier is free and unlimited, giving non-engineers read-only access to dashboards and alerts at no cost. Datadog charges per user for full access.
• AI observability: New Relic includes AI observability (model performance, prompt analytics, token cost tracking) within its platform. Datadog offers similar capabilities as a separate product.
• OpenTelemetry: Both platforms support OpenTelemetry ingestion. New Relic built its OTel support into the core platform; Datadog accepts OTel data but routes it through proprietary agents for full feature access.
• Free tier scope: New Relic's free tier includes all 50+ platform capabilities for one full user. Datadog's free tier is limited to infrastructure monitoring on up to 5 hosts with 1-day retention.

What types of teams choose New Relic vs Datadog?

Teams often choose New Relic when: they want a single, consolidated bill based on data volume rather than counting hosts; they have large numbers of engineers who need read-only dashboard access (covered by free basic users); they want full-stack APM, logs, and infrastructure included in one plan without per-feature add-ons; or they are early-stage and want a generous free tier to get started.

Teams often choose Datadog when: they are already deeply integrated into the AWS ecosystem and want prebuilt integrations; they have specific security monitoring requirements that Datadog's security products cover; or they have existing enterprise contracts through the AWS Marketplace.

New Relic vs Datadog pricing FAQs

Is New Relic cheaper than Datadog?

For most infrastructure and APM use cases, New Relic's usage-based pricing is lower total cost than Datadog's per-host, per-feature model, especially as host count and product surface area grow. Datadog's costs compound when you add APM on top of infrastructure monitoring on top of log indexing. New Relic bundles all capabilities into a single data ingest rate. The exact comparison depends on your host count, data volume, user count, and which Datadog products you need.

Does Datadog charge for data egress?

Datadog charges for log storage, retention, and rehydration. New Relic does not charge for data egress or data hydration on any plan.

Can I switch from Datadog to New Relic?

Yes. New Relic supports OpenTelemetry, Prometheus, and most common agent formats, so existing instrumentation can often send data to New Relic with configuration changes rather than full re-instrumentation. New Relic also offers migration support for teams moving from Datadog. You can explore New Relic's platform and start for free at newrelic.com.

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